I am a Senior Political Contributor at Forbes and the official 'token lefty,' as the title of the page suggests. However, writing from the 'left of center' should not be confused with writing for the left as I often annoy progressives just as much as I upset conservative thinkers. In addition to the pages of Forbes.com, you can find me every Saturday morning on your TV arguing with my more conservative colleagues on "Forbes on Fox" on the Fox News Network and at various other times during the week serving as a liberal talking head on other Fox News and Fox Business Network shows. I also serve as a Democratic strategist with Mercury Public Affairs.

3/02/2012 @ 4:25PM33,431 views

Wisconsin State Senator Glenn Grothman, the Assistant Majority Leader and a close ally of GOP Governor Scott Walker in the effort to destroy collective bargaining in the Badger State, is taking crazy to new levels.

Grothman has introduced a bill that would require the State of Wisconsin to officially deem single parenthood to be a “contributor” to child abuse and neglect and to put the same into statutory laws of the state.

Seriously…no kidding…really.

Here is the relevant section of the Wisconsin law that was the subject of a hearing yesterday in the Wisconsin state Senate Committee on Public Health, Human Services and Revenue. The bold lettering represents the amendments to the existing law that Senator Grothman has proposed for addition:

Section 1. 48.982 (2) (g) 2. of the statutes is amended to read: 48.982 (2) (g) 2. Promote statewide educational and public awareness campaigns and materials for the purpose of developing public awareness of the problems of child abuse and neglect. In promoting those campaigns and materials, the board shall emphasize nonmarital parenthood as a contributing factor to child abuse and neglect.

Section 2. 48.982 (2) (g) 4. of the statutes is amended to read: 48.982 (2) (g) 4. Disseminate information about the problems of and methods of preventing child abuse and neglect to the public and to organizations concerned with those problems. In disseminating that information, the board shall emphasize nonmarital parenthood as a contributing factor to child abuse and neglect.

If it strikes you as odd that the Wisconsin senate is spending the taxpayers’ money debating this sort of legislation in committee—considering that a full one-third of Wisconsin’s parents are, indeed, single parents—you need to understand a little bit more about Wisconsin state Senator Grothman.

You should know that it was Senator Grothman who informed us last year that “The Left and the social welfare establishment want children born out of wedlock because they are far more likely to be dependent on the government.” This is also the same Senator Grothman who opposed a provision in the 2010 Wisconsin sex education law that would prohibit teachers from promoting bias based on sexual orientation because he believed that instructors would have an “agenda” to persuade students to become gay.

Apparently, no longer content with suggesting that single parents (most of whom were not always single) are only out to bilk the government when deciding to have children, Grothman has decided that these same evil doers are more responsible for child abuse and child neglect than, say, alcoholics, people with mental health issues, married couples who engage in domestic violence, unemployment and the other causes cited as material contributors to child abuse.

I say that Grothman believes single-parenthood to be more responsible because I don’t see him proposing that these other causes be specifically included in his legislation.

To be fair, data reveals that there are more incidents of child abuse in households with only one parent than in households with two parents. But the data does not indicate that this factor is somehow more responsible for child abuse than the other factors listed above so, again, why single this factor out to include in the state’s statutes and not the others?

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Do you think 2012 could see a backlash against these crazies who have taken over state legislatures in Wisconsin, Virginia, and Arizona? Do you think there is a chance that all their crazy laws – and a presidential election – could bring out voters to throw these bums out?

Just yesterday, I was checking on the number of states that mandate birth control coverage in heath insurance policies, and I was surprised to see Arizona on the list. (Back in 2000, when this rule was set in place, Arizona was a progressive state.) Seeing Arizona on the list I thought, “uh oh, the crazies in our legislature will see this and will change that law”. And what do you know…. in today’s paper it says the legislature has voted to allow any employer to refuse to provide contraceptive coverage based on its religious beliefs.

Our goofy governor is not up for re-election this year, so I don’t hold out hope for changes in Arizona. Hopefully the good people of Wisconsin will get rid of their governor and many of his pals in the legislature. I sure hope so!

You can add New Hampshire to your list of states gone nuts. NH has a veto proof majority of Republicans that are operating in their own little world. I suspect, and hope, they get swept away in November.

And what is the economic result of such a move? A burden on tax money? A child not being taken care of? What if it becomes a rampant phenomenon? A lot of single parents have the foresight to bring up their kids responsibly. But most of them do not have any planning and depend on government aids. We should discourage such parents. Read Freakonomics – legalization of abortion led to drop in crimes

I see this as yet another attack on women – I would imagine the majority of single parents ARE women. And how many of these women were so abused by their ex, they left to find a better life for their children?

When does this Republican madness end?… If voters are smart, the answer is November.

We’re doing our best. The demonstrations last year and the recall this year both show that Wisconsin is not in love with crazy. They got in because their campaign ads all said one thing and one thing only in 2010: “Jobs, jobs, jobs.” Walker never told us what he meant was that the state would bleed jobs, jobs, jobs. I left a hospital bed to vote against him, though I did have to use a walker to do so. O, irony. I’ll do whatever it takes to get him out of office. I was one of those people with a petition.

The election will be dirty, as he has operatives in key offices who, in the last election, put “fist-sized holes” in the vote bags. I’m just hoping our shear numbers will be able to overcome the cheats, the new district maps, the voter suppression laws, and whatever else he has up his sleeve. This is not Wisconsin politics as usual. We used to pride ourselves on our open government and honesty. I hate what they’ve done to us.

Your comments are clear-and that makes it worth keeping you talking. You write – “I am clear in my comments because I’ve been taught self-responsibility, reason and logic. No wonder it sounds like “code” to you.” This would certainly suggest that it sounds like ‘code’ to me because I have, apparently, not been taught self-responsiblity, reason and logic. Interesting ad hominem effort, particularly considering that I’ve been married a very long time (and only once), raised a family, and became successful completely on my own(my family did not have money) through hard work and using whatever talents I have to their best effect. And yet, you suggest that I lack these very traits. The ability to write with clarity-an ability that you possess-does not negate the reality that what you write exposes an exceptionally narrow mind capable only of expounding nicely on what you do understand while completely incapable of exploring the life experiences of those you clearly do not understand. But please…keep writing…

I’ve lived, by choice, in the inner cities of two countries and have had the irresponsible, the unwed mother, and the destitute sleep on my couch and eat at my table and at times even threaten the well-being of my family. I’ve showed them kindness and a willingness to help them out of their troubles. Sometimes they suffer from the tender mercies of political manipulators or just their own poor choices. It doesn’t mean I approve of continually underwriting their poor choices. The unwed mother had to be thrown out of my home because she was bringing danger into it.

And it doesn’t make me narrow or heartless to say so. It makes me real.

I know more intimately than you the people you would commit to further penury with your utopian fantasy of equal outcome.

I will withdraw as a misunderstanding on my part, seeing your stellar sense of personal responsibility. But allow me to wonder why you do not urge others to it, but rather seek to have the taxpayer subsidize poor choices?

Do you always reduce human beings to “bots” if you disagree with the truth? I live in Wisconsin, work in Wisconsin, and vote in Wisconsin. I am well aware of what is going on here. I know, for instance, that we went from being one of the top job creating states to the absolute bottom, #50, within the first year of Walker’s reign. I know that he is energetically fundraising (perhaps even in Wisconsin on the rare occasion) and 80% of his multiple millions is from out of state. And I know that most of his former associates in his last political job have been arrested for 14 felonies and several misdemeanors. The net is closing on old Scottie, as well.

That too logical and bot-ish for you? Then I’ll make it simple: Scott Walker is horrendously bad at his job. Senator Grothman is equally as bad at his. There, spoken in the terms of an employer, a Wisconsin taxpayer.